H-E-L-P in Planning a Bar Mitzvah!

smalka ↓

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 7:38 pm

I am beginning to plan for my son becoming a bar mitzvah in 2009 for Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim. We live in a small community with very few bar mitzvahs so I need help with a kind of primer that one of you might have from having already planned a bar mitzvah.
We are planning a buffet lunch after tefillah on Shabbat. We will also be housing our out-of-town shomer shabbat guests with neighbors and will be having Friday night meal for them. I would like to have some kind of checklist for things I need to do, prepare for.
I am also looking for ideas for centerpieces which are not too expensive and have some meaning, not balloons or flowers. One thing I plan to do is to donate to JNF and have the tree certificates on each table. I thought of plants to go with that motif, but think it may be too simple.

I also need to decorate the ballroom as it is a bit run-down and needs to be snazzed up a bit.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!!

Raisin

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 7:46 pm

If your guests have small children who cant walk at all or walk far and there is no eruv in town, make sure there is some arrangement for them so they can attend.

bonsai trees??? Or those mini lemon trees you can get? that would be a beautiful centerpeice, and you could tie it in to man is like a tree in a field. put the mini tree on some fake grass, and maybe have that pasuk in a frame.

su7kids

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 7:57 pm

Raisin wrote:

Love that, and you can also contact the JNF and get tzedaka boxes from them to put on the tables.

Make sure you have a non Jewish person who can help you on the day in case you need lights turned on and off or as in the case of one friend, the cholent burnt, someone had to unplug the pot.

Start getting your invitation list together, and plan your invitations.

You can go far with the tree theme, and April is Earth Day so you can probably get stuff around then for decorations.

Boys"R"Us

Sun, Aug 17 2008, 11:12 pm

ettasarah wrote:

For my son's bar'mitzvah, we had tefillin as the centerpiece. They were simply two black cardboard boxes, 1 small one taped to 1 large 1, with a shin on 1 side, & some black ribbon with gold trim. It wasn't expensive,& there were two sets on each table. It was beautiful.

Did you make them yourself? They sound beautiful - do you have a picture of them that I could see?
I am already planning for Bar Mitzvah #3!

THanks,
Debbie

shlishka

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 6:13 am

I've seen a really cute "clock" made out of posterboard. In the middle is a nice size picture of the Bar Mitzva boy in his grown-up clothes. Each number is an oval picture of the boy at that age. It was put on an easel when the guests walked in and was really cute to see.
If you are using paper, you can get that all together early. I had different boxes. One box was the Friday night paper goods, one was the kiddush, one the lunch and one the melava malka box. As I had different paper goods for each meal, it worked out well.
You will need benchers for the guests to bench with.
Some food on Friday afternoon for the out-of-town guests - cake, fruit, maybe potato kugel or cholent.
Will you be giving hostess gifts to the people that are hosting your guests?
Will you have welcome kits for the guests from out of town? (Water, snack, candles, schedule, local attractions, map, davening times, etc.)
HTH

supermom

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 6:30 am

I did something abit similiar with the centerpiece of tefillin for my bil's bar mitzvah three years ago. I took empty cereal boxs one larger then the next and made the tefillin out of them. I spray painted them black and wrote shins on them in gold marker, sprinkled some glitter to give it a shine.

Then for napkin rings I bought two sizes one rectangle and one box sugar cubes spray painted them, hot glued them in a shape of teffilin, put black ribbon for the straps and hot glued them to thick nice ribbon, glued them into a ring and presto napkin holders. They were a big hit and everyone took it home as a suvenior. Shame I don't know how to insert pictures. THey really came out nice. After everything my husband took the rest of the square sugar cubes and made two life size teffilin out of the for the head table near his cake.

As for the room itself. You can cordinate the tablecloths with colored balloons with strings hanging all around the room, or make a big arch of balloons for the middle of the room. Or buy balloons out of big letters to spell out your sons name and stick it to a wall or put part of the mechitza standing against a wall with your sons name on it.

If I can think of something else I will post.

Barbara

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 12:46 pm

smalka wrote:

For centerpieces, how about keeping with the tree theme. You could get something like this

http://www.realsimple.com/real......html

and put photos of the Bar Mitzvah boy growing up, as well as tree certificates, in it. Place it in a pretty tray, or place some pretty colored marbles (well, the flat glass kind, I don't know what they're called) around it. I know that you said no balloons, but add one or two, and you're set.

You could rent some plants (I *think* you can rent plants!) for decor.

Are you doing a kiddush for the entire congregation? Kippot? Bentchers? Are all of your son's friends in walking distance, or do you need to make accomodations for them? Check with your shul if you're intending to self-cater; some don't allow that.

↑ smalka

Mon, Aug 18 2008, 8:20 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions so far. Keep 'em coming! I like the mini-lemon trees, but they might be expensive, no? Bonsai trees are too small I think for centerpieces. Also like the balloons with the bar mitzvah boy's name.

Someone mentioned in a much earlier post about birckonim (bentchers) in the shape of a citrus fruit (orange I think) that sit on the side of a glass via a slit of some sort. The poster didn't know where to find these. Any of you guys know about this?

I am not at all crafty so the tefillin centerpieces would be out for me. I like the clock idea as well, but don't know if I can do it.-